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Copley Press is selling Casa del Zorro, its resort facility in Borrego Springs, confirms Judy Meier, top executive of the Borrego Sun, a Copley-owned newspaper. She was referred to me by Hal Fuson, the company chief operating officer. The buyer is Sherman Oaks-based GH Capital, which has taken over the twice-bankrupt Rams Hill development in Borrego. Some citizens there wonder if there is enough water for the ambitious plans of GH. Meier says she does not know what Copley will get for the resort. A notice of intended transfer of the retail alcoholic beverage license to GH was dated Nov. 15 and signed by Fuson, but not posted until Dec. 18. Meier believes that Copley wants the deal consummated by the end of the year. This raises questions, because a group of Union-Tribune employees will be severed this month, and it's believed that the company wants them completely off the books by the end of the year. Earlier this year, Copley sold a group of Ohio and Illinois papers. Charles Patrick, former chief operating officer and still a board member, had always wanted to get rid of Casa del Zorro, but it had nostalgic value for the Copley family. It was the site of an annual management conference for Copley. It has a drawing by Ted Geisel on the fox theme -- tying in with Zorro, Helen Copley's Fox Hill, and David Copley's Fox Hole estates. Employees were sometimes given discounts for Casa, but complained that the discounts came during the summer when the heat was piercing. So what is this company doing? It is shedding assets. Is it doing so to put the proceeds into needed technological improvements at the Union-Tribune? Or is the company preparing for a change in ownership of the whole operation?
Copley Press is selling Casa del Zorro, its resort facility in Borrego Springs, confirms Judy Meier, top executive of the Borrego Sun, a Copley-owned newspaper. She was referred to me by Hal Fuson, the company chief operating officer. The buyer is Sherman Oaks-based GH Capital, which has taken over the twice-bankrupt Rams Hill development in Borrego. Some citizens there wonder if there is enough water for the ambitious plans of GH. Meier says she does not know what Copley will get for the resort. A notice of intended transfer of the retail alcoholic beverage license to GH was dated Nov. 15 and signed by Fuson, but not posted until Dec. 18. Meier believes that Copley wants the deal consummated by the end of the year. This raises questions, because a group of Union-Tribune employees will be severed this month, and it's believed that the company wants them completely off the books by the end of the year. Earlier this year, Copley sold a group of Ohio and Illinois papers. Charles Patrick, former chief operating officer and still a board member, had always wanted to get rid of Casa del Zorro, but it had nostalgic value for the Copley family. It was the site of an annual management conference for Copley. It has a drawing by Ted Geisel on the fox theme -- tying in with Zorro, Helen Copley's Fox Hill, and David Copley's Fox Hole estates. Employees were sometimes given discounts for Casa, but complained that the discounts came during the summer when the heat was piercing. So what is this company doing? It is shedding assets. Is it doing so to put the proceeds into needed technological improvements at the Union-Tribune? Or is the company preparing for a change in ownership of the whole operation?